Stocks fell on Wall Street as a strong year for the market looks set to end on a sour note. The S&P 500 closed 1.1% lower Monday. On the second-to-last day of 2024, the benchmark index is still on track for its second straight yearly gain of more than 20%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gave back 1%, and the Nasdaq composite lost 1.2%. Declines in Big Tech companies like Apple and Microsoft weighed on the market. Boeing fell after one of its jets skidded off a runway in South Korea, killing 179 of the 181 people aboard.THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.U.S. stocks fell Monday as a strong year for the market looks set to end on a sour note.
The S&P 500 fell 0.6% in afternoon trading, on pace for its third straight decline. Roughly 90% of stocks within the index lost ground. On the second-to-last day of 2024, the benchmark index is still on track for its second straight yearly gain of more than 20%.The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 229 points, or 0.5%, as of 3:24 p.m. Eastern time. The Nasdaq composite fell 0.7%.Big Tech companies were among the heaviest weights on the market, worsening the slump. Apple fell 1% and Microsoft fell 0.8%. Their pricey valuations tend to have an outsized impact on the broader market.Boeing fell 1.6% after one of its jets skidded off a runway in South Korea, killing 179 of the 181 people aboard. South Korea is inspecting all 737-800 aircraft operated by airlines in the country.The disaster was yet another blow for Boeing following a machinists strike, further safety problems with its troubled top-selling aircraft and a plunging stock price. Its shares have declined more than 30% this year.Airlines that fly Boeing jets wavered in the wake of the crash. United Airlines fell 1.3% and Delta Air Lines slipped 0.7%.Bond yields fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.55% from 4.63% late Friday. The yield on the two-year Treasury fell to 4.26% from 4.33% late Friday.
The price of U.S. crude oil rose 0.6%. Energy stocks held up better than the rest of the market. The sector rose 0.2%, making it the only sector gaining ground within the S&P 500 index.Natural gas prices jumped 12%. That helped support gains for natural gas producers. EQT Corp. rose 5.3%.Indexes in Europe and Asia mostly fell.Markets are nearing the close of a stellar year driven by a growing economy, solid consumer spending and a strong jobs market. Wall Street expects companies within the S&P 500 to report broad earnings growth of more than 9% for the year, according to FactSet. The final figures will be tallied following fourth-quarter reports that start in a few weeks.Wall Street was encouraged by cooling inflation throughout the year that had brought the rate of inflation close to the Federal Reserve’s 2% target. That raised hopes that the central bank would deliver a steady stream of interest rate cuts, which would ease borrowi